Million Book Collection - The Fishers of Men Ministries

234 THE FIRST AGE OF THE MARTYR CHURCH.ruptions and abuses.68 And it would scarcely ap-pear to him as a power in the State, either fromits numbers or the influence of the people belongingto it; yet on the other hand it would appearas something not inconsiderable in either of theserespects. Moreover, we may suppose it wouldcome before him as a belief, and not as an institution.It had as yet no public churches.59 A heathenwould say of Christians at this time that theyhad no temples, altars, or statues ;GO no ceremonialworship, for he could not, as a heathen, get admittanceto Christian rites, which moreover werecarried on in private houses, and carefully concealed.The emperor would be well aware thatChristians had rulers of their own ;61 it was assuch that Trajan had fixed upon the bishop thirdin rank among Christian communities for punishmentthe most severe and degrading, to be thrownas food for wild beasts, for the pleasure of the people.But nevertheless, the internal constitution ofthe Church would lie hidden from him : the linkwhich bound together the bishops of the variouslocal communities, and so formed the Catholicismof the Church, would be quite invisible to all outside.Jealous as Trajan was of secret societies, so58 See the curious letter of Hadrian about the Alexandrians, in whichthe Christians spoken of are probably heretics.59 They are first mentioned at Borne in the reign of AlexanderSeverus.60 See Origen c. Cels. vii. 62.»Vho art thou who art zealous to trans-gress our comnisuadinsr others to come to an evil end ?"